English Chinese Translation of World Famous Tourist Attractions

There are many great tourist attractions around the world that are fun and educational to visit. Here is a list of English Chinese translation of the most important tourist attractions around the world.

Asia 亚洲

　　The Hilalays 喜马拉雅山

　　Great Wall, China 中国长城

　　Forbidden City, Beijing, China 北京故宫

　　Mount Fuji, Japan 日本富士山

　　Taj Mahal, India 印度泰姬陵

　　Angkor Wat, Cambodia 柬埔寨吴哥窟

　　Bali, Indonesia 印度尼西亚巴厘岛

　　Borobudur, Indonesia 印度尼西亚波罗浮屠

　　Sentosa, Singapore 新加坡圣淘沙

　　Crocodile Farm, Thailand 泰国北榄鳄鱼湖

　　Pattaya Beach, Thailand 泰国芭堤雅海滩

　　Babylon, Iraq 伊拉克巴比伦遗迹

　　Mosque of St, Sophia in Istanbul （Constantinople）, Turkey 土耳其圣索非亚教堂

　　

Africa 非洲

　　Suez Canal, Egypt 印度苏伊士运河

　　Aswan High Dam, Egypt 印度阿斯旺水坝

　　Nairobi National Park, Kenya 肯尼亚内罗毕国家公园

　　Cape of Good Hope, South Africa 南非好望角

　　Sahara Desert 撒哈拉大沙漠

　　Pyramids, Egypt 埃及金字塔

　　The Nile, Egypt 埃及尼罗河

　　

Oceania 大洋洲

　　Great Barrier Reef 大堡礁

　　Sydney Opera House, Australia 悉尼歌剧院

　　Ayers Rock 艾尔斯巨石

　　Mount Cook 库克山

　　Easter Island 复活节岛

　　

Europe 欧洲

　　Notre Dame de Paris, France 法国巴黎圣母院

　　Eiffel Tower, France 法国艾菲尔铁塔

　　Suez Canal, Egypt 印度苏伊士运河

　　Aswan High Dam, Egypt 印度阿斯旺水坝

　　Nairobi National Park, Kenya 肯尼亚内罗毕国家公园

　　Cape of Good Hope, South Africa 南非好望角

　　Sahara Desert 撒哈拉大沙漠

　　Pyramids, Egypt 埃及金字塔

　　The Nile, Egypt 埃及尼罗河

　　
　　

The Americas 美洲

　　Niagara Falls, New York State, USA 美国尼亚加拉大瀑布

　　Bermuda 百慕大

　　Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 美国夏威夷火奴鲁鲁

　　Panama Canal 巴拿马大运河

　　Yellowstone National Park, USA 美国黄石国家公园

　　Statue of Liberty, New York City, USA 美国纽约自由女神像

　　Times Square, New York City, USA 美国纽约时代广场

　　The White House, Washington DC., USA 美国华盛顿白宫

　　World Trade Center, New York City, USA 美国纽约世界贸易中心

　　Central Park, New York City, USA 美国纽约中央公园

　　Yosemite National Park, USA 美国尤塞米提国家公园

　　Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA 美国亚利桑那州大峡谷

　　Hollywood, California, USA 美国加利佛尼亚好莱坞

　　Disneyland, California, USA 加利佛尼亚迪斯尼乐园

　　Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 美国内华达拉斯维加斯

　　Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA 纽约大都会艺术博物馆

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Post-holiday Syndrome

English Chinese translation of post-holiday syndrome

The time has come to get back into the discipline of work after enjoying a relaxing, worry and stress-free vacation. With the gloomy prospect of returning to work, many people could suffer post-holiday syndrome, experts said.
在享受完轻松，无忧无虑的假期过后又要回到工作中。专家说，一想到又要回到单调的上班生活，许多人都会患上假后综合症。

“假后综合症”就是post-holiday syndrome。The syndrome refers to a general feeling of depression before returning to work, which is caused by irregular lifestyles during the vacation. （假后综合症指的是在即将回去上班之前人们普遍感到的抑郁心情，通常是由度假期间不规律的生活方式导致的），symptoms include fatigue, lack of appetite and concentration, irritability and a feeling of helplessness.（假后综合症的症状包括感到疲惫、没有胃口、无法集中精力、易怒和无助感等）。

Post作为前缀有“在……之后”的意思，例如：post-disaster reconstruction（灾后重建）；post-war economy（战后经济）等。Syndrome这个词大家也不陌生，AIDS（艾滋病）的全称就是acquired immunodeficiency syndrome，还有一度让人谈之色变的SARS“非典”——非典型性肺炎是Severe Acute Respiratory Syndromes。

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American talk slippier than you might think

It is commonly believed among many Chinese that Westerners who take "yes" and "no" by their face meanings are more straightforward than Chinese.
The perception contains some value. Normally Westerners don’t have to adopt Chinese tactics like sweeping the floor or constantly checking the clock to indicate to a guest that it’s time to leave. They don’t have to hesitate in saying "no" when they are not able to, or don’t want to, offer help to a friend in need. There is no embarrassment attached to this behavior.
But it is too simple to conclude that Westerners are more direct speakers than the Chinese.
There are many occasions when the way Westerners express themselves make Chinese look more straightforward and honest.
When I was a fresh international student, the director of our program once asked students in an e-mail what we thought about a new adjunct professor. I simply said "She seems to know a lot but doesn’t know how to teach." And the director replied with "Thank you for being candid."
Only years later when I better understood the new culture, I realized why I had gone too far. If that question were asked now, the reply would have three paragraphs devoted to the qualities of the professor before the last line came out - "There are some gaps in her teaching methodology." Still tough, but at least it wouldn’t be considered rude?
Indeed, the introverted social norms and the deeply-rooted "face issue" make honest speaking risky in China; Americans have their own reasons to distort words. This results partly from suffocating political correctness. It also results from several generations of people who have been told they have done well even when they have failed. It may not be unfair to suggest that many Americans are oversensitive and obsessed with a perfect self image.
So, the next time you hear about the inscrutable and indirect Chinese, it would be worth challenging the source and pointing out that the cultural comparisons are much more complex. But maybe you should do it in a roundabout way, to be polite?

English Chinese translation:
中国人通常认为，西方人面对 “是”和“否”的回答时，往往比中国人更加直接。
这种观点的确有些道理。西方人不会像中国人那样，采取扫地或不停看时间的方式，暗示 “逐客令”的下达。在西方，朋友需要帮助时，如果自己无能为力或不愿相助，可以毫不犹豫地说“不”，这不会造成尴尬局面的产生。
但是，下定论说西方人比中国人说话更直白，那就太简单了。
在许多场合，他们的表述反而显得我们中国人更直率诚实。
在我还是一个国际新生的时候，课程的主任有一次让学生在电子邮件中发表自己对新来兼职教授的看法。我只是简略地写道：“她看似学识渊博，但却不知如何教学生。”而主任回复我：“多谢你的坦诚。”
几年以后，在对这个崭新文化有更深刻的了解之后，我才意识到当时自己做得有多过火。如果现在再问我相同的问题，我一定先写三段赞扬她优点的话，最后再写一句：“她的教学方法有点难以接受。”虽然仍带尖刻，至少看上去不那么粗鲁了。
确实，在中国，内敛的社交氛围以及根深蒂固的“面子”观念使得说实话者要承担很大的风险，而在美国，说话绕弯，也有他们的原因，可能是严格的政治正确性迫使他们委婉用词，也可能是来源于多年来的传统——对失败者都不吝惜赞美之词。所以，认为美国人过分敏感与极端自负的观点，都有失公道。
因此，当以后再听到表示中文深奥晦涩的论调时，你可以对此辩驳一番，并指出文化的比较是很复杂的。但是，出于礼貌，你可能要采用更委婉的方式论述自己的想法，不是吗？

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A Merry, Wary Christmas Is Flourishing in Beijing

Our housing compound looks like it might take off any minute. The trees throughout the common grounds are festooned with lights and a dormant-for-winter fountain has been transformed into a towering electronic Christmas tree. It took an army of workers a week or more to set up all this firepower and the results are impressive. The other day I drove home and saw a large group of Chinese gawking at it and taking photos of each other.

In the three years we've been in China there has been a continuous increase in the amount of Christmas celebrating here. Friends who can't or don't go home for the holidays tell me this has eased the strain of being in China for the holiday. Meanwhile, we are double outsiders, as Westerners who don't celebrate Christmas. Peering at it from so far away has led me to feel both more and less connected to the holiday, which has always so dominated this season.

My friends Wyatt and Jacqui Cameron moved to Shanghai 10 years ago and struggled to find a few items to add some Christmas cheer to their apartment. Two years later, she says, there was a noticeable change, when trees appeared at the flower markets. There's been a little more of everything every year since.

'Every year it increases and that makes it easier for me,' says Mrs. Cameron. 'I think I actually celebrate the holiday more here than I would at home. I feel an obligation to participate in it more for my [three] kids because I'm not home. I feel I have to establish tradition for my kids, like I had. And I feel that it's all on me to do, without an extended family nearby.'

Christmas came to Beijing a little slower than it did to Shanghai. Just a few years ago, Western expats had to search high and low for Christmas trees and decorations, or make sure they had a good supply from home. Now there are sellers of real trees all around the expat-heavy area where we live and they are also abundant at local flower markets, indicating that at least some of the growth is due to more Chinese marking the holiday. There is even a single seller of small, sad-looking artificial trees at the downscale local market near our house.

You can still traverse vast sections of Beijing without noticing that it is the Christmas season, but many higher-end locales have decorations, most of them garish and overblown. The Pacific Century Mall features a huge Christmas display on its front sidewalk, including three skinny Chinese guys in Santa Claus suits complementing two more roly-poly mannequin Santas, wire reindeer and even a manger scene. Baby Jesus rubs elbows with Santa Claus and Prancer.

I've heard tell of a stuffed Santa Claus cradling baby Jesus and even of a crucified Santa on a cross, though I haven't seen these myself and think they are probably urban legends. While people in the U.S. often fret about putting the Christ back in Christmas, he was never really in it here. My old Chinese teacher Yechen, who lived in London for five years and enjoyed the Christmas season there, told me last year he found it full of a spirituality that's sorely lacking here. 'Starbucks, McDonald's and Christmas are all the same to most people here -- they just like foreign things,' he said. 'People don't understand what the holiday means. It's just fashionable, big fun.'

At the mall, a large white faux church complete with imitation stained-glass windows showing Jesus and Mary serves as a backdrop. A Chinese family posed in front of the 'church' for pictures and laughed when I asked if it had any religious significance to them. 'It's just pretty,' the mother said, as Michael Bolton's take on Christmas carols wafted from speakers behind us. 'We come here and take pictures every year.'

Despite the carols and the Merry Christmas signs, there's no gift-buying frenzy, even on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks before the holiday. That is reserved for Chinese New Year, which is like Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years all rolled into one. Chinese friends who enjoy marking Christmas tell me that exchanging small gifts is purely optional, a sweet little lark.

My family and I, meanwhile, belong to that small subset of the expat world that doesn't celebrate Christmas, status that has given us a heightened sense of closeness to each other and to our small circle of Jewish friends and Sunday-school mates. Lighting a menorah here feels a little extra special. It would have been easy to opt out of religious life while living in China, since being Jewish has always been only a part of who I am. But once we opted in, it seemed to mean more, maybe because it took some extra effort and it clearly sets us apart here. My kids take great joy in explaining Chanukah to their classmates -- they own the holiday in a way they wouldn't back in the States.

And I don't want to tip this appropriately warm balance by digging in my feet on Santa Claus or Christmas trees. Since coming to China I've loosened up about whether my kids engage in Christmas festivities. I have enjoyed watching them participate in huge Santa-infused events at their British school the last couple of years and even threw a Santa hat on myself last week when the big man visited the second-grade classes. Being so far away I feel some warmth for these Christmas totems, which seem to represent America more than they do than anything religious.

But I do have my limits, and they were tested by Jacob's 'holiday' play this year, a musical reenactment of the birth of Jesus called Rejoice. I squirmed in my seat as my son and his friend Sam wore skullcaps on stage as the token Jews. It was meant as a show of diversity but it felt all wrong, as did the entire production, which nowadays would be considered wildly inappropriate in a non-religious American school. Other American families of different faiths were also upset, but our British and Aussie friends couldn't understand why. It was another reminder that in my expat life, the cultural miscommunication is not always between me and China.

English Chinese translation:

我们居住的小区现在已经装饰得流光溢彩了。树木缠上了彩灯，因为冬季而陷于休眠状态的喷泉也变身为一棵高高耸立的电灯圣诞树。一大班工人花一周多时间才给我们的小区置上了这身行头，而且效果确实醒目。某天我开车回家时看到很多中国人在这棵“树”前驻足观看，并互相拍照留念。

在我们旅居中国的三年当中，庆祝圣诞节的气氛越来越浓郁。那些无法回家过节的朋友们告诉我这样有助于缓解他们在假日期间的思乡之情。不过，作为不过圣诞节的西方人，我们一家难免显得有点“双重”置身事外。在欢渡圣诞成为当然主题的年终岁尾，远望着这一切，我感觉自己和这个节日若即若离。

我的朋友怀亚特•卡梅隆(Wyatt Cameron)及杰姬•卡梅隆(Jacqui Cameron)夫妇十年前迁往上海居住，当时他们不得不努力去找几样装饰品来给家里增加点圣诞气息。但杰姬告诉我两年后情形就不同了，那时圣诞树已经可以在花卉市场买到。之后庆祝圣诞的气氛一年比一年浓烈。

杰姬说：“在中国，圣诞节的感觉每年都在‘升级’，这也给我的生活带来了更多便利。其实我在中国过圣诞节要比在国内正式；因为我们身在异国，就算为了孩子们我也要好好过这个节日，这对我来说彷佛一项义务。”她说：“我觉得自己必须让孩子们知道何为传统，就像我小时候那样；由于这里只有我们一家人，没有其他家族成员的帮助，这个责任只能由我一肩承担。”

广告圣诞节“空降”北京的时间略晚于上海。就在几年前，旅居北京的老外还必须到处寻找圣诞树和装饰品，要么就得保证家乡有充足的后备供应。现在在所有老外密集居住的地方都有真的冷杉树出售，而且在当地花市中供货也不成问题，这表明至少有一部分中国人也开始重视这个节日。在离我们家不远的一个小市场里甚至有人专门销售那种小小的、看起来模样颇不周正的塑料圣诞树。

在北京很多地方你仍感受不到圣诞气息，不过许多比较高级的场所都已扮上了“圣诞妆”，虽然大多有些艳俗。太平洋百货商场(Pacific Century Mall)在门前的空场上布置了一个巨大的圣诞景观，有两位胖胖的圣诞老人，有驯鹿车、有小马，甚至旁边还有刚降生的耶稣躺在马槽里。除此之外，由三个中国人装扮的美体修身版圣诞老人也会不时出来搞搞气氛。

我曾听人说起过，有的圣诞景观是那个胖老头给初生的耶稣摇摇篮，有的甚至是圣诞老人被钉在十字架上受难，不过我并未亲眼目睹，而且我觉得它们应该是讹传。在美国，人们通常不会在过圣诞节时抬出耶稣降生的场景，在中国就更是从来不会把这二者联系到一起。我以前的中文老师叶琛（音）曾在伦敦生活了五年，并总在当地过节。去年他对我说，北京的圣诞缺少伦敦圣诞节那种骨子里的东西。叶琛说：“对绝大多数中国人来说，圣诞节和星巴克、麦当劳都是一样的，都是泊来品；人们不理解这个节日意味着什么，只知道时髦、好玩。”

在太平洋百货商场里还搭了一座装有仿制彩色玻璃窗的白色大教堂，背景包括耶稣和圣母玛丽亚(Mary)。一个中国家庭正在这座迷你教堂前边摆姿势照相，当我上前询问这是不是对他们有特别的宗教意义时，一家人笑了起来。妈妈说：“就是好看呗。我们每年都到这儿照相。”此时迈克尔•波顿(Michael Bolton)的圣诞颂歌正在商场里回响。

虽然有颂歌和圣诞标志，但在中国可没有圣诞购物狂潮，即便这个节日已经近在眼前了。中国人都在憋着过春节呢，后者就像是圣诞节、感恩节和新年的三位一体。那些喜欢过圣诞节的中国朋友们告诉我，在圣诞节交换礼物纯粹是个可有可无的小仪式。

我家是不过圣诞节的，这在旅居中国的老外中属于少数派，因此我们也更加珍视和家人、犹太朋友们以及主日学校校友们的亲密关系。在这里点燃犹太烛台有一点特殊的意义。在中国，选择不参加宗教活动本是件容易的事情，反正犹太人的身份并不是我的全部。但是只要我们参加宗教仪式，它就会给我们带来更多的感受，这或许是因为它不是惯性使然，而是需要自己努力为之的，而且这样的仪式也把我们和现在生活的环境分隔了开来。我的孩子们在向同学们讲述犹太光明节(Chanukah)时很开心，这是他们以一种非美国化的方式庆祝这个节日。

我不想以改过圣诞节来打破孩子心目中的平衡。自从移居中国之后，我对孩子们是否参加圣诞活动的态度就出现了松动。在过去几年中，我都在他们就读的英国学校观看了他们参加的圣诞节目汇演，上周我甚至在这位大人物到访小学二年级时带上了一顶圣诞老人的帽子。我之所以做出这么多让步是因为这些圣诞节物品让我感到了一种温暖，它们看起来更像一种美国人的象征，而不具宗教意义。

但我还是有底线的，我儿子雅各布他们班今年再现耶稣诞生记的舞台剧《Rejoice》就试探了我的底线。当看到雅各布和他朋友山姆(Sam)拿无边便帽当犹太人的典型服饰时，我在椅子上真是感到坐立不安。这出戏的本意是体现文化的多样性，但感觉完全不对，即使是在没有任何宗教色彩的美国学校上演亦不恰当。在座一些拥有其他宗教信仰的美国家庭也感到了不舒服，而我们的英国和澳洲朋友却一点没有察觉。这不禁提醒了我，在异国生活中，文化上的隔阂并不只存在于我和中国人之间。

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Demand For Medical Interpreters Is Booming

English Chinese translation:
Gayle Tang remembers the time she thought she was speaking English but only realized she had lapsed into Cantonese when one of her doctors spoke it back to her. That was 14 years ago, but she recalls the uneasy feeling of not knowing what was wrong with her and undergoing tests for heart palpitations. The doctor's words in the language she needed to hear and speak at that sensitive time moved her, she said. "It was very natural, very comforting," Tang said. "I was able to express myself and it was emotional. I felt, wow this person really cared about me."
盖尔唐现在仍然记得在医院的一次经历，当时她本以为自己在用英语讲话，其实是不由自主地讲着广东话，而这时其中一位医生竟开始用她的母语同她交流。这是14年前的事了，但她还能想起自己当时做心悸检查不知所措的感觉，医生在她紧张的时刻使用她能听懂和表达的语言与她交流，让她感到很感动。“那种感觉非常自然，令人舒服，”唐说，“我能够表达自己，这令人很激动。我觉得，哇，这个人真的是很关照我。”
The experience gave Tang insight into what patients who speak languages other than English may face when they're frightened and in the throes of medical treatment. "It's very exhausting to try to communicate your most personal information in a language you may not be as comfortable in when you're under stress," said Tang, director of national linguistic & cultural programs for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland. "When people are under duress, they may lose their language skills," she said. "It's not like going to the bank and making a banking transaction or going to the grocery store and buying food."
这次经历让唐了解到，不会讲英语的病人在恐慌和疼痛时会面临什么样的麻烦。“在压力下以自己不是很习惯的语言来讲述个人信息是一件非常辛苦的事，”担任位于奥克兰的凯泽公司民族语言和文化项目部主任的唐说。“人们在胁迫下可能会失去自己的语言技能，”她说，“这与到银行做笔交易或去杂货店买食物的情况不同。”
Kaiser Permanente has been on the forefront of a movement toward greater linguistic and cultural competence in health care. Kaiser routinely asks patients which language they prefer to speak, and developed a voluntary physician assessment tool that lets health-care organizations determine if doctors have enough foreign-language proficiency to speak with patients in that language independent of an interpreter. About 1,000 doctors have taken the test so far. As the nation's population grows and ages, the demand for language services in hospitals, doctor's offices and other health-care arenas is booming, experts say.
凯泽公司在推动医疗领域完善语言与文化服务方面一直走在前列。他们会例行地询问病人希望使用的语言，并为医疗机构制定了自愿者医师评估工具，以便他们能判断是否医生具备在无需译员帮助下能够同讲外语的病人较好沟通的能力。目前大约有1000名医生参加了这项评估测试。 专家们介绍，随着国家人口的增长和老龄化，医院、医生诊所和其他卫生保健领域对语言服务的需求正日益增加。
Federal law mandates that any entity that receives federal funding, whether it's Medicare reimbursement or research grants, must provide a patient with limited English proficiency an interpreter at no cost to the patient. In early 2009, California enacted a language-services law requiring all health plans and insurers to provide an interpreter for limited-English speaking patients at no cost to the patients. The House of Representatives' health-reform bill calls for a study into how the Medicare program makes use of language services for beneficiaries who have limited English proficiency. If a health-care overhaul expands coverage as promised, an influx of newly insured people into the Medicaid program also may increase demand for medical interpreters. An estimated 15,000 to 17,000 people perform medical interpreting work in the U.S., according to Common Sense Advisory, a Boston-based research firm. Interpreters typically earn $15 to $30 an hour.
联邦法律明文规定，任何获得诸如医疗保险或研究补助金等联邦资助的单位，必须向英语能力有限的病人免费提供翻译人员。 2009年初，加利福尼亚州颁布了一项语言服务法律，要求所有医疗计划和保险人向英语能力有限的病人免费提供口译人员。 众议院的医疗改革法案还在安排一项研究，用来了解医疗项目如何利用语言服务为英语能力有限的病人带来福利。如果医疗改革按照预定的那样扩大覆盖范围的话，新获得医疗保险的一大批人的涌入同样会增加对医疗口译员的需求。根据一家位于波士顿的调查公司“Common Sense咨询服务公司”统计，在美国有大约15000至17000人在从事医疗口译工作，口译员一般收入为每小时15至30美元。

Driven to standardize
走向标准化
As hospitals look to boost patient safety and limit their exposure to potential lawsuits if a crucial detail gets lost in translation during a fast-paced medical response, some are open to a new national certification standard for the people they hire to provide medical interpretation. In October, a nonprofit group launched a first-of-its-kind national interpreting standard that will allow interpreters working in the medical field to be tested and credentialed as certified medical interpreters, or CMIs. The CMI designation first will be available to Spanish language interpreters, with national certification for several other languages starting next year.
如果一个关键的细节没有在快节奏的医疗问询中被清楚翻译的话，病人的安全就会受到威胁，医院还会存在潜在的诉讼风险，医院为了避免类似问题发生正着力寻求解决途径。目前，一部分医院已经开始采纳针对医疗口译人员的国家认证标准。10月份，一家非营利性组织开始制定了历史首次的国家口译服务标准，允许医疗领域工作的口译员参加考试并获得医学口译证书（CMI），这项认证首先在西班牙语口译员中试行，明年起在其它几种语言中推广。
At M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, interpreters have to have at least one year of experience doing medical interpretation. They then go through three months of in-house training including medical and oncological terminology and technical aspects of interpretation, said Cesar Palacio, manager of the language assistance department. "Right now when we hire someone we have to take a very good look at their credentials and verify that they really know what they're doing," he said. "If we have national or state certification, at least we'll have a benchmark for establishing credentials."
在休斯敦安德森癌症中心，口译员必须有至少一年的医疗口译经验。他们还要通过三个月的内部训练，包括医疗和肿瘤方面的术语及口译技术问题，语言协助部门经理帕拉西奥介绍说。“现在我们雇人时，都要仔细地了解他们的资格，并确认他们真的知道自己在做什么，”他说，“如果我们有国家或州一级的认证，至少我们会有一个衡量基准。”
The field of medical interpretation has come a long way from when patients would rely solely on their minor children or when hospital staff would comb their ranks for candidates or ask if anyone in the waiting room spoke Polish, for example, said Dr. Eric Hardt, medical consultant to interpreter services at Boston Medical Center. "They would tap these people completely untrained," he said. "Today we would think of it as an instant [health-care privacy] violation. That standard has long been gone." "Now the issue is what about your secretary who's fully bilingual? If she's not been evaluated, had some training, I don't think it's safe for you to use her to interpret" for low-English proficiency patients, Hardt said. "If something went wrong, you're increasingly likely to be liable."
“医疗口译已经走过了很长的路，以往病人仅能靠他们尚未成年的子女同医生沟通，亦或医院想办法在医务工作者中挑选会外语的人员，甚至向排号等待看病的人中询问是否有会波兰语的人。”在波士顿医疗中心担任译员咨询专家的哈特埃里克博士说。“他们会让这些完全未经训练的人做口译，”他说，“而今天，我们会立即把这种行为看作是对医疗隐私的侵犯。旧的标准早已过时了。”“现在的问题是，如果你的秘书就能熟练掌握双语，但她没有获得评估或受过训练，是否可以胜任这份工作？我觉得让她为低英语水平的病人做口译仍然是不安全的。”哈特说，“如果出了问题，你需要承担责任的几率会大大增加。”
Of course, such services don't come cheap. At M.D. Anderson, the annual price tag comes to $2 million, Palacio said. The cancer-treatment center has 25 staff interpreters covering nine languages, but it provides services in about 30 languages by tapping a phone-based medical interpreting agency. About 60% of M.D. Anderson's non-English business is Spanish; another 28% is Arabic. Turkish, Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese round out the top five languages it hears. "Providing these services is a very good risk-management tool," Palacio said. "There have been settlements for language-related problems amounting to tens of millions of dollars because of one word or phrase used incorrectly."
当然，口译服务并不便宜。在安德森中心，每年的花费会达到200万美元，帕拉西奥说。癌症治疗中心有25名工作人员，涵盖9种语言翻译，额外还能通过电话代理方式提供约30种语言的口译服务。安德森中心受理的非英语业务大约有60％是西班牙语，28％为阿拉伯语，它们连同土耳其语、越南语和汉语普通话构成了主要外语的前5位。“提供这些服务是一个很好的风险管理工具，”帕拉西奥说，“因为经常有由于一个词或短语没有使用准确而导致数千万美元赔偿的案例。”
Offering interpreters also pays off in public-relations gains. "We have many patients who were not even expecting to find this kind of service here," he said, "but they find the service very useful, very rewarding."
提供口译员服务也体现公共关系的成果。“我们有许多病人原本并没有期待可以在这里获得这种服务，”他说，“但他们发现这项服务非常有用，非常有价值。”

Judgment calls
如何去判断
Health care makes up about a third of the business at Language Line Services, which provides telephone-based interpreting services for $1.50 a minute on average. Its president, Louis Provenzano, said the company serves more than 170 languages by staffing interpreters in 18 time zones who are available to customers by phone or sometimes video at all hours. More than half its staff is based in the U.S.
医疗口译占在线语言服务公司 Language Line Services 近三分之一的业务，他们提供在线方式的口译服务，平均每分钟收取1.5美元。其公司总裁路易斯普罗文扎诺介绍，该公司的口译人员来自18个时区的不同地方，大约一半以上的工作人员居住在美国，这些人员可以通过电话或视频的方式24小时为客户提供超过170种语言的翻译服务。
Despite the recession, the company continues to grow, Provenzano said. Spanish drives 70% of the U.S. business volume, and Mandarin Chinese is the second most in-demand language. It's not just acute-care facilities and emergency rooms that are calling for help. New customers are coming on board in the area of preventive care, disease management and needs related to the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, he said. "No matter which side of the fence you sit on immigration, there's a fundamental complexity in terms of the demographics of this country," Provenzano said. "One of every five citizens speaks another language other than English."
尽管经济衰退，该公司的业务却在持续增长。西班牙语占据了他们美国业务的70％，而汉语普通话位列急需语言的第二位。现在不仅仅是急救机构和急诊室打电话过来求助，在预防保健、疾病管理以及与甲型流感有关的需求方面都带来大量的新客户。“不管你对于移民问题持有何种立场，从这个国家的人口统计的角度来看，有一个基本的复杂问题就是，每五个市民里就有一位讲另一种英语以外的语言。”普罗文扎诺说。
Still, doctors often balk at providing medical interpreters because that often means they pay more in interpreter's fees than they are reimbursed for the patient's office visit. The American Medical Association says it understands the need for good patient-doctor communication but objects to the "unfunded mandate" that leaves doctors on the hook for the cost of providing interpreters.
不过，医生往往不愿为病人提供医疗口译人员，因为这常常意味着他们给译员支付的费用要超过为病人看病获得的利润。美国医学协会说，他们清楚为了让医患之间更好的沟通而对口译服务的需求，但对政府不提供此方面资助的规定表示反对，因为让医生支付口译费用会将他们置于两难的境地。
Many patients whose native language isn't English often choose doctors who speak their first language, said Dr. Anmol S. Mahal, a gastroenterologist in Fremont, Calif., and past president of the California Medical Association. Others count on trusted loved ones who accompany them to the visit. "The largest volume of interpreters are loving family members and neighbors and transporters who come with patients and help," said Mahal, who speaks Hindi and Punjabi. Doctors should be able to determine when a family member is appropriate vs. when a professional interpreter is needed, he said.
“许多母语为非英语的病人往往会选择同他们讲相同语言的医生，”在弗里蒙特工作的肠胃病医生、加利福尼亚州医疗协会前主席安莫尔马哈尔说，“另一些人则指望自己信任的亲人陪同他们前往医院。”“前来陪同病人并帮忙翻译的大多数人都是家属、邻居甚至运送人员。”马哈尔说，他本人会讲印地语和旁遮普语。“医生应该能够确定何时家庭成员可以胜任，而何时需要一位专业翻译，”他说。
"If I have someone with a minor illness -- a bronchitis or a cold -- and a family member is interpreting for the patient, I would think the communication level that visit requires could be adequately covered and the quality of care would not be affected," he said. "On other hand, if I had a patient with a malignancy that was quite complicated and I had to describe the extent of the malignancy and options for treatment to determine what further course of action to take, I think it would be more important in that circumstance to have a professional interpreter who could ascertain the patient's understanding."
“如果我的患者只是有轻微疾病，例如支气管炎或感冒，当家属为患者翻译时，我会认为这种沟通水平已经能满足需求了，服务质量也不会受到太大影响，”他说，“但相反，如果我的病人有非常复杂的恶性肿瘤，我就必须描述病情的恶性程度和治疗方案，以确定对病人的进一步治疗行动，我觉得这时找一位能够弄清病人是否理解的专业翻译就更加重要。”
Studies show that people who don't speak English generally receive a lower standard of care, Hardt said. "Our hypothesis is the amount of money that's wasted on language barriers would be enough to cover the cost of good interpretive services," he said, noting that appropriate services could reduce health-care disparities and inefficiencies such as the number of patients who make repeat trips to the emergency room because their original problem wasn't handled properly. "These are all big-ticket items," Hardt said. But that doesn't mean medical interpreting is an easy sell, he noted. "It's the old problem of when you save someone else's money, how can you convince them to pay you back?"
“研究表明，不会说英语的病人受到的治疗标准普遍偏低”，哈特说。“我们的假定是因为语言障碍而浪费的金钱足以用来支付提供较好口译服务的费用。”他同时指出，“适合的口译服务可以减少医疗服务的受众差距和低效率，因为有很多人重复被送到急诊室是因为他们原先的问题没有被很好的处理。这些都是高价的负担，”哈特说，“但这并不意味着医疗口译就会很容易被采用，”他说，“还是那个老问题，当您为别人省了钱的时候，你该如何说服他们给你补偿呢？”

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Traditional Chinese Festival - Winter Solstice

As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 22 or 23 according to the Gregorian calendar.
The Northern hemisphere on this day experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.
The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Solstice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize celebrating activities. On this day, both officials and common people would have a rest. The army was stationed in, frontier fortresses closed and business and traveling stopped. Relatives and friends presented to each other delicious food. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven; while common people offered sacrifices to their deceased parents or other relatives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even had the record that "Winter Solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival," showing the great importance attached to this day.
In some parts of Northern China, people eat dumpling soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat dumplings, saying doing so will keep them from frost in the upcoming winter. But in parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice to drive away ghosts and other evil things. In other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dumplings could be used as sacrifices to ancestors, or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make cakes in the shape of chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition. People of the same surname or family clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand banquet.

Related English Chinese translation：
冬至，是我国农历中一个非常重要的节气，也是一个传统节日，至今仍有不少地方有过冬至节的习俗。冬至俗称“冬节”、“长至节”、“亚岁”等。早在二千五百多年前的春秋时代，我国已经用土圭观测太阳测定出冬至来了，它是二十四节气中最早制订出的一个。时间在每年的阳历12月22日或者23日之间。
　　冬至是北半球全年中白天最短、黑夜最长的一天，过了冬至，白天就会一天天变长。古人对冬至的说法是：阴极之至，阳气始生，日南至，日短之至，日影长之至，故曰“冬至”。冬至过后，各地气候都进入一个最寒冷的阶段，也就是人们常说的“进九”，我国民间有“冷在三九，热在三伏”的说法。现代天文科学测定，冬至日太阳直射南回归线，阳光对北半球最倾斜，北半球白天最短，黑夜最长，这天之后，太阳又逐渐北移。
　　在我国古代对冬至很重视，冬至被当作一个较大节日，曾有“冬至大如年”的说法，而且有庆贺冬至的习俗。《汉书》中说：“冬至阳气起，君道长，故贺。”人们认为：过了冬至，白昼一天比一天长，阳气回升，是一个节气循环的开始，也是一个吉日，应该庆贺。《晋书》上记载有“魏晋冬至日受万国及百僚称贺……其仪亚于正旦。”说明古代对冬至日的重视。
现在，一些地方还把冬至作为一个节日来过。北方地区有冬至宰羊，吃饺子、吃馄饨的习俗，南方地区在这一天则有吃冬至米团、冬至长线面的习惯。各个地区在冬至这一天还有祭天祭祖的习俗。

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Most Expensive Christmas Tree

Christmas came in extravagant fashion to the Muslim desert emirate of Abu Dhabi as a glitzy hotel unveiled a bejewelled Christmas tree valued at more than 11 million dollars on Wednesday.
It is the "most expensive Christmas tree ever," with a "value of over 11 million dollars." The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights.
But the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the tree's branches are what give it a record value. It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. The tree itself is about 10,000 dollars. The jewellery has a value of over 11 million dollars. Probably, this will be another Dubai entry into the Guinness book of world records.

English Chinese Translation:
本周三，阿布达比酋长国（阿拉伯联合酋长国之一）的一家奢华酒店将一棵挂满珠宝、价值1100万美元的圣诞树布置于酒店大堂内，本年度的圣诞节开始在这片土地上刮起了奢华风。
这棵价值价值1100万美元的圣诞树是“有史以来最贵的圣诞树”，上面用金、银弓，球形装饰等点缀着。
但这棵圣诞树的真正价值在于挂在树枝上的各式项链、耳环和珠宝。它承载了181颗钻石、珍珠、翡翠和宝石等。这棵树本身价值约1万美元，而这些珠宝的价值要超过1100万美元。也许它将成为继迪拜酒店后另一项进入吉尼斯纪录的杰作。

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